Speaker 1: Welcome to NFL Daily, where we're a little too excited
Speaker 1: that the Texans veterans are reporting for training camp tomorrow.
Speaker 1: I'm Greg Rosenthal beyond lucky today to be joined in
Speaker 1: the studio by my friend Patrick Claybahn.
Speaker 2: That's right. Football is back.
Speaker 3: It's back, and a lot of people are back on
Speaker 3: their consoles for the first time in fifteen years, celebrating
Speaker 3: college football returning. But yeah, we're here, Greg, and I'm excited.
Speaker 3: Coming up later, we're gonna do some fake football steam,
Speaker 3: which is a perfect offseason thing. But yeah, this is
Speaker 3: real life. I got travel schedules coming up. This all
Speaker 3: escalated very quickly.
Speaker 2: It is all happening. And yeah, you mentioned EA the
Speaker 2: college football game coming out. We have shook on later.
Speaker 1: He is the video game expert at the company, so
Speaker 1: we might have to talk a little college football later.
Speaker 2: You mentioned fake football.
Speaker 1: It's not fantasy, although you are a fantasy expert, and
Speaker 1: we're definitely gonna hit fantasy. I was back in the day,
Speaker 1: and I'm back. I'm back in the fantasy game. I
Speaker 1: am in an actual league for the second time. I
Speaker 1: took about twelve years off and joined the league with
Speaker 1: a friend of mine last year, and so yeah, we'll
Speaker 1: talk fantasy throughout the season, but this isn't really that
Speaker 1: kind of fantasy. This is an important moment on this
Speaker 1: show's history in which we're going to determine if you
Speaker 1: were going to take one player in the NFL and
Speaker 1: clone that player and put them at every single position
Speaker 1: on offense and defense, yep, to win the most amount
Speaker 1: of games, which player would you choose.
Speaker 2: We're gonna have a little draft later.
Speaker 4: It's gonna be fun.
Speaker 1: I also, I am excited because the news is starting
Speaker 1: to pick up and today not all of it's great news,
Speaker 1: I have to admit, but every day this week, we're
Speaker 1: gonna be starting each day with the news and let's
Speaker 1: get going.
Speaker 3: It would take it would take you six hours to
Speaker 3: download this podcast if you were doing dial up.
Speaker 4: Shout out to anybody who remembers that.
Speaker 1: By the way, I do, that was like late middle
Speaker 1: school and high school for me. And uh yeah, it's
Speaker 1: it's a little jarring to hear Joe Buck.
Speaker 2: I have to get used to that, but I do
Speaker 2: like it.
Speaker 1: I don't like what we're starting the news today, but
Speaker 1: it really was the biggest football item to happen over
Speaker 1: the weekend and into Monday, which related to Jordan Addis
Speaker 1: and the Vikings wide receiver who was arrested on suspicion
Speaker 1: of driving under the influence on Friday near La x
Speaker 1: Here in Los Angeles. The California Highway Patrol Police confirm
Speaker 1: to our website NFL dot com they revealed that there
Speaker 1: was a disabled vehicle blocking blocking lanes on I one
Speaker 1: O five and that that was what they told us.
Speaker 1: That an officer arrived to the scene, a white Rolls
Speaker 1: Royce was spotted with Addison asleep behind the wheel, and
Speaker 1: then he was arrested shortly thereafter. The Vikings released a
Speaker 1: statement saying they're aware of the arrest and this is
Speaker 1: the second consecutive offseason Addison's encountered a legal issue on
Speaker 1: the road. Last July, he was cited for speeding and
Speaker 1: reckless driving in Minnesota for going one hundred and forty
Speaker 1: miles in a fifty five mile an hour zone.
Speaker 4: It should go without saying, don't drink and drive.
Speaker 3: I think that's the easiest and most responsible reaction that
Speaker 3: a lot of people have right is anger and frustration.
Speaker 3: We lose people every day, and this is again, as
Speaker 3: you mentioned, the second incident. The first time, it was
Speaker 3: just speeding. He was driving one hundred and forty miles
Speaker 3: an hour. Jordan Addison has got to figure out how
Speaker 3: he's going to comport himself in a vehicle. I would
Speaker 3: make the case that he shouldn't be behind the wheel
Speaker 3: of a vehicle at all at this point, not just
Speaker 3: from the standpoint of, you know, protecting himself, it's from
Speaker 3: a standpoint of protecting everybody. And we have seen time
Speaker 3: and time again that these situations, not just with him,
Speaker 3: but with so many people keep reproducing themselves that it
Speaker 3: gets past the point of personal responsibility. It's kind of
Speaker 3: on everybody else that's in the vicinity of these people.
Speaker 3: If you're serving these people, if you're around these people
Speaker 3: when they're drinking, let's do everything you can to keep
Speaker 3: them from getting behind the wheel of their cars.
Speaker 4: It's really frustrating. I really don't know what else to say.
Speaker 1: Yeah, there isn't much to say other than this is
Speaker 1: where the NFL will begin to look at the situation
Speaker 1: and we'll see if there's any punishment. There was not
Speaker 1: last year off of that incident. Now this is two
Speaker 1: different incidents, and it's heartbreaking for it to happen just
Speaker 1: days after Addison's teammate Kyrie Jackson, a fourth round pick,
Speaker 1: died along with two high school teammates in a car
Speaker 1: accident where they're struck by another car. That was a
Speaker 1: situation where the investigators they believe alcohol may have been
Speaker 1: a contributing circumstance in the fatal crash, and that remains
Speaker 1: under investigation. So our rip to Kyrie Jackson and we'll
Speaker 1: see what's next for Jordan Addison. But just considering what
Speaker 1: you know, where he is and in terms of his
Speaker 1: importance to that offense, that that really was the most
Speaker 1: noteworthy thing to happen.
Speaker 2: Less noteworthy, but.
Speaker 1: Very interesting has been DeVante Adams' summer really weak of
Speaker 1: just kind of getting out there, which I appreciate in
Speaker 1: the as we're.
Speaker 2: Getting into training camp. He's given us a lot to
Speaker 2: talk about.
Speaker 1: Let's listen to him on the Up and Adams Show
Speaker 1: with Fan duel with ky Adams.
Speaker 5: Oh he's in that ear, that's for sure. He's in
Speaker 5: the ear. But you know it's not as it's not
Speaker 5: as easy as it. You know, obviously we can get
Speaker 5: together and talk about the old times and potential of
Speaker 5: doing this and that. But like I said, I'm a raider,
Speaker 5: so and he knows that. So we'll maybe in the
Speaker 5: next lifetime.
Speaker 1: So people picked up the first part of this quote,
Speaker 1: which is about Aaron Rodgers, and she asked him, because
Speaker 1: there's just been a lot of conversation with these two
Speaker 1: ever get back together, even at the even at the
Speaker 1: golf tournament over the week in the celebrity golf tournament,
Speaker 1: is this going to happen? And if you watch that
Speaker 1: on Receiver, which I've only seen clips, but it didn't
Speaker 1: seem thrilled with how last season was going. But it
Speaker 1: just doesn't feel like it's something that could realistically happen,
Speaker 1: whether Aaron Rodgers wants it to or not.
Speaker 3: No, And there was a couple of moments in that interview,
Speaker 3: and you heard it in that clip where Davante said,
Speaker 3: as I said, it's a thing that he's saying, it's
Speaker 3: refrain I am a raider. He also said, you know,
Speaker 3: there's nothing I could do about it if they ship
Speaker 3: me off somewhere, But I am a raider.
Speaker 4: Is the Davante Adams quote.
Speaker 3: And if you do watch the Receiver, I think, did
Speaker 3: you see the clip that I saw, because I haven't
Speaker 3: watched the show either, but it's Davante again playing a lot.
Speaker 4: He's running a lot of routes.
Speaker 3: He is absolutely by himself on a corner route and
Speaker 3: Jimmy g airmails him and he goes to the sideline
Speaker 3: and he's like, this is ridiculous.
Speaker 4: I've got to get out of here.
Speaker 3: I think seeing those moments may make you feel that
Speaker 3: because DeVante playing the football game is different than him
Speaker 3: thinking about and making decisions right. I think the whole
Speaker 3: team was frustrated. It's a different situation. But in terms
Speaker 3: of her union, I don't think Devonte needs Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 3: He just needs competent offense and quarterback play.
Speaker 1: I don't know if he's gonna get that. But one
Speaker 1: of the most fascinating clips for that show was he
Speaker 1: was quoted saying, I signed off on that when Jimmy
Speaker 1: Garoppolo gets benched, and that's just the reality of it.
Speaker 2: I mean, I'm sure they're just keeping him in the mix.
Speaker 1: They're making that decision, but he said, I love Jimmy,
Speaker 1: He's a great guy. Something had to happen in order
Speaker 1: for us to have a chance down the stretch and
Speaker 1: for me to remain a raider in all honesty, and
Speaker 1: that's not in the moment.
Speaker 2: No, that's that's that's later that week. So that's for me.
Speaker 2: He said, Jimmy Garoppol had to get bench for him
Speaker 2: to remain a Raider. That's corrected.
Speaker 3: Well, anybody with eyes right, I could say that it
Speaker 3: wasn't necessarily working out with Jimmy and Las Vegas. And
Speaker 3: it just makes sense because DeVante has been a very
Speaker 3: productive player. The only season he's played more snaps in
Speaker 3: his career than last season was his first season with them.
Speaker 1: Hmm.
Speaker 3: Like he's playing a lot of football and the Raiders
Speaker 3: have been bad. So yeah, it's frustrating, but you can
Speaker 3: see a reason that he wants change. I think that
Speaker 3: would be obvious.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: On a positive note, he seemed like a fan of
Speaker 1: Aidan O'Connell on that show from what I saw, and
Speaker 1: then he was on f S one Speak last week
Speaker 1: as well, and he said he thought it was Aiden's
Speaker 1: job to lose because he was there before and that's
Speaker 1: the way it was. He was running with the ones
Speaker 1: more talking about OTAs he says, until Gardner comes in
Speaker 1: and takes it from him. I think it's Aiden's job.
Speaker 1: I'm sure that's true. But him even saying that to
Speaker 1: me says, yeah, he likes it the kind of Aidan
Speaker 1: O'Connell's jib. And I'm not surprised that Aiden O'Connell is
Speaker 1: a little more impressive in the off season environment. And
Speaker 1: if he wasn't a fourth round pick, if he was
Speaker 1: like a second round pick, we would have looked at
Speaker 1: his rookie year and been like, yeah, that's pretty good.
Speaker 3: So but the red lettering to me on that quote
Speaker 3: is until right right. It feels like he feels like
Speaker 3: it has a chance at least.
Speaker 1: Well he knows it's not up to him and Gardner
Speaker 1: Minch is making a lot of money, also making a
Speaker 1: lot of money, but maybe not as much as as
Speaker 1: he hopes As t Higgins. He did not sign his
Speaker 1: long term deal by Monday, so July fifteenth is normally
Speaker 1: a noteworthy day in the NFL calendar because it's the
Speaker 1: deadline for franchise tag players to sign their long term deals,
Speaker 1: and he did not get a long term deal. He's
Speaker 1: due to make twenty one point eight million dollars under
Speaker 1: that franchise tag, not bad considering what he made over
Speaker 1: the last four years, but not great. Compared to what
Speaker 1: other receivers out there are making. The crazy thing Patrick
Speaker 1: with this deadline was he was the only franchise tag
Speaker 1: player who's still on the tag. Shout out to the
Speaker 1: NFL like front offosite, like I've always had a problem
Speaker 1: with the franchise tag that these guys are getting short change.
Speaker 2: It's really not free agency.
Speaker 1: And yet Josh heinz Allen we covered with Mina that
Speaker 1: Josh Allen for the Jaguars has changed his name in
Speaker 1: honor of the his mother's side of the family. Josh
Speaker 1: heinz Allen, Justin Mattabike, Michael Pittman, Jalen Johnson, Antoine Winfield
Speaker 1: all got long term deal, and Brian Burns and Lagerious
Speaker 1: Sneve got traded and got long term deal. So it's like, Okay,
Speaker 1: maybe this, if this is the new norm, that that's
Speaker 1: good for NFL.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it feels kind of shifting in between the because
Speaker 3: it's it's it's always going to be a cost control metric,
Speaker 3: right and a tool to come.
Speaker 1: They would do better if they were just free agents. Yeah,
Speaker 1: to be clear, a little better.
Speaker 3: But it seems like it's reaching a mid ground between like, oh,
Speaker 3: this is purely to keep players from making more money,
Speaker 3: and hey, we we ultimately do want to keep these
Speaker 3: guys around. And I think the way that this played out,
Speaker 3: it kind of feels obvious that the Bengals would like
Speaker 3: to have T Higgins this year, They're not going to
Speaker 3: have him after that, and T recognizes that, and this
Speaker 3: was the most kind of obvious way for it to
Speaker 3: play out.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I saw the National reporter suggest this week, like, well,
Speaker 1: it's not gonna It's not as easy for the Bengals
Speaker 1: to get a deal done now after all these other
Speaker 1: receiver deals happened out there, and I'm thinking they knew
Speaker 1: where it was going, right.
Speaker 2: They knew where it was going.
Speaker 1: Questia Doova Mensa said at the combine, we are going
Speaker 1: to make Justin Jefferson the highest paid non quarterback in history.
Speaker 1: They knew all these receiver contracts were going. They don't
Speaker 1: want to pay it for them, which is their right,
Speaker 1: and he will get that money like Jesse Bates will elsewhere.
Speaker 1: I think there are Bengals fans out there that are
Speaker 1: hoping something else possibly happens, tagging him for a second
Speaker 1: straight year if you were the Bengals. Actually, isn't that
Speaker 1: bad business, but would be unfortunate for t Higgins. But
Speaker 1: he just needs to stay healthy and he will get
Speaker 1: a crazy deal next year, more than he probably would
Speaker 1: have if if the Bengals were going to give him
Speaker 1: a long term deal this year.
Speaker 3: And also if they were going to do two consecutive tags,
Speaker 3: then you could have packaged together an offer, right, right,
Speaker 3: it's two years that makes sense for both parties.
Speaker 4: Right. They didn't.
Speaker 1: It's what they've done in the past, and it's it's
Speaker 1: one of the difficult things with the salary cap.
Speaker 2: It depends which team you are, but we're seeing this
Speaker 2: in the NBA too.
Speaker 1: You do have to make choices, and Jamar Chase is
Speaker 1: going to get that big contract. In my mind, I
Speaker 1: believe he will, and it is tough to fit it all.
Speaker 1: In some Falcons news this week, I thought this was
Speaker 1: an interesting quote got a lot of pop. Zach Robbinson,
Speaker 1: the new offensive coordinator, was quoted saying Kyle Pitts is
Speaker 1: quote basically learning two positions wide receiver and tight end.
Speaker 2: Is it finally the year for Kyle Pitts.
Speaker 3: I think it's the year, and I know that there's
Speaker 3: people who are delving into the lineup stats, and they
Speaker 3: saw how much Kyle Pits liund up wide last year
Speaker 3: as twenty nine percent, and things didn't necessarily go great
Speaker 3: when he was lined out wide. But I think the
Speaker 3: important context there is Kyle Pits was hurt for majority
Speaker 3: of the season, and when you when that's your body type,
Speaker 3: a big, physical, fast guy, and he's out there doing
Speaker 3: something that people his size normally don't do when you're hurt,
Speaker 3: it's more difficult to do that. And then we go
Speaker 3: back to year two and he had more uncatchable passes
Speaker 3: than anybody in the Empire NFL, and so it's more
Speaker 3: I think it's easier to see rookie year you're a
Speaker 3: thousand yard receiver Kyle Pits than it is to see
Speaker 3: the guy that we've gotten the last two years the
Speaker 3: outcomes because it's clearly the same person. But he was
Speaker 3: hurt and then the team was kind of in DISARRAYT.
Speaker 1: Yeah, he just needs to be healthy because he also
Speaker 1: wasn't ye that mover on the field last year, and
Speaker 1: that's partably why I think it didn't go out. But
Speaker 1: this got popped for like, oh wow, he's got to
Speaker 1: be more of a receiver now. I just did the
Speaker 1: calculations while you were talking Patrick, although I was paying attention,
Speaker 1: he only was an in line tight end twenty two
Speaker 1: percent of the time.
Speaker 4: Last year.
Speaker 1: He was in the slot a good chunk of it,
Speaker 1: and out wide even more than he was an in
Speaker 1: line tenan. So he is a wide receiver and I'm
Speaker 1: I'm excited. I'm excited to watch him in that offense
Speaker 1: with a better quarterback who loves to throw the ball,
Speaker 1: two big targets, who loves to throw the ball inside
Speaker 1: as long as he's healthy. To me, that's just it,
Speaker 1: because he just wasn't moving the same as he did,
Speaker 1: but it already did happen.
Speaker 2: It happened.
Speaker 1: His rookie year is one of the best rookie year
Speaker 1: tight end seasons we've ever seen. A little bit of
Speaker 1: broadcast news before. We talk about Jacoby Jones and Monte
Speaker 1: Kiffin unfortunately passing way over the weekend. But I did
Speaker 1: want to just hit you with a couple of little things.
Speaker 1: Bill Belichick is joining inside the NFL. That's wild. It's
Speaker 1: gonna be Ocho Sinko, Chris Long and Ryan Clark and
Speaker 1: in the Fox announced their broadcast teams. It weren't like
Speaker 1: huge headlines here, but we know Greg Olsen moving down
Speaker 1: to number two. He's gonna be with Joe Davis. Adam
Speaker 1: Amen bumped up to the three spot with Mark Sanchez.
Speaker 1: So Mark Sanchez bumped up. A little Disappointed for Kevin Coogler.
Speaker 1: I liked him on the play I play. He's down
Speaker 1: at five now with Daryl Johnston, so they're moving guys around.
Speaker 1: Kenny Albert and Jonathan Vilma is still at four. I'm
Speaker 1: into this stuff, so I just wanted to point that out.
Speaker 1: Little little love for Sanchez who was on the show
Speaker 1: here once he got bumped up a spot or two.
Speaker 3: They contextualized the way the most people in the world
Speaker 3: engage with football and so it's important, it's important to them.
Speaker 1: And it's also a depth chart which I just kind
Speaker 1: of liked that broadcast teams like have to tell is
Speaker 1: that for the last group, they have to tell Chris
Speaker 1: Myers and Schlaer at your six, you're number six, you
Speaker 1: moved up or down.
Speaker 2: I don't know if that's necessary, but.
Speaker 4: I know, yeah, why do we have access to that?
Speaker 2: And yeah, it's weird.
Speaker 1: It is weird, and I love that Belichick had to
Speaker 1: be part of this kind of like funny social clip.
Speaker 1: I'm curious how they'll use him, if he'll be actually
Speaker 1: in a studio with them, or if he has a
Speaker 1: deal kind of because NFL Films produces that where they
Speaker 1: just throw it to him and he's doing a really
Speaker 1: cool film session somewhere else, which would be awesome.
Speaker 2: I will watch inside the NFL.
Speaker 1: I was not a regular viewer last year, although I
Speaker 1: did kind of want to see how Jay Cutler's was
Speaker 1: doing and once at least, and I guess he's not
Speaker 1: on the show anymore.
Speaker 2: So Belichick is replaced.
Speaker 4: Bounced for Bill.
Speaker 2: It's too bad. Finally I did just mention it.
Speaker 1: Some sad news in the NFL this season lost a
Speaker 1: couple great individuals, Jacoby Jones and Moni Kiff. And let's
Speaker 1: start with Jacoby Jones, who died peacefully at the age
Speaker 1: of forty. His fan only released in a statement through
Speaker 1: the NFLPA played nine seasons four different teams, including five
Speaker 1: seasons with the Texans, who drafted him, and then three
Speaker 1: with the Ravens, where he was an All Pro and
Speaker 1: a Super Bowl in playoff hero.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Three days after his fortieth birthday, Jacoby Jones from New
Speaker 3: Orleans Louisiana had that kickoff return for a touchdown in
Speaker 3: his hometown in the super Bowl, of course, the miracle
Speaker 3: in Denver. He was such a big part of that
Speaker 3: Super Bowl run and a joy for everybody to talk to.
Speaker 3: And it's it's kind of a reminder that, you know,
Speaker 3: no matter how invincible we feel, we've you know, people
Speaker 3: have got to got to stay up on everything. Not sure,
Speaker 3: not sure what happened, but we were robbed of a
Speaker 3: lot of years of Jacoby Jones.
Speaker 1: Andrew Johnson, his former teammate, just called him the life
Speaker 1: of the party. And that dude was so Nola. He's
Speaker 1: so New Orleans. I rewatched this series it was called
Speaker 1: Stories with Master Tesfazian on Bleacher Report, and he did
Speaker 1: an episode where he was playing pool with Jacoby Jones.
Speaker 1: That was every episode where he played pool with him,
Speaker 1: and that dude is just so New Orleans. And you
Speaker 1: can see how everyone just loved that dude. And just
Speaker 1: for any listeners who don't remember that run, just quickly
Speaker 1: putting it in context. Divisional round. Ravens are down seven
Speaker 1: with forty seconds to go. They have seventy yards to go.
Speaker 1: They need a touchdown. Jacoby Jones's speed is such that
Speaker 1: he just busts right through bracket coverage. I'm not going
Speaker 1: to call out those defensive players, I know who they were,
Speaker 1: but if they don't misjudge just this incredible speed, they
Speaker 1: very likely win that game. The raven Super Bowl run
Speaker 1: never happens. Joe Flacco, the beautiful ball gets it to
Speaker 1: him seventy yards, they win in overtime. Then you get
Speaker 1: to the Super Bowl. Jacoby Jones in his hometown. This
Speaker 1: is a performance that would win MVP most years. I
Speaker 1: get why Flacko got I don't have a problem with that,
Speaker 1: but it would normally win MVP. He's so open in
Speaker 1: the first half, he's able to fall down making sure
Speaker 1: he catches this pass that flacout couldn't get everything on
Speaker 1: because he's getting pressured, falls down to catch it to
Speaker 1: make sure he gets it, gets up and then makes
Speaker 1: a couple guys miss on the way to a fifty
Speaker 1: eight yard touchdown. And that is before the one hundred
Speaker 1: and eight yard touchdown. And that's just an incredible run.
Speaker 1: And that was the last touchdown they scored in that game.
Speaker 1: By the way, it was twenty eight to six at
Speaker 1: that point. They almost did not win that game. If
Speaker 1: they did not get that touch on, they do not
Speaker 1: win that game. And yeah, all the memories of him
Speaker 1: and John Harbor had a great memory of remembering Jacobe
Speaker 1: talking to his mom in the end zone during a
Speaker 1: snowstorm against the Vikings, and right after he talks to
Speaker 1: his mom, he takes one to the house. He was
Speaker 1: a legend and Monte Kiffen was a legend too. Didn't
Speaker 1: want to miss this that he passed away at the
Speaker 1: age of eighty four. Just one of the most influential
Speaker 1: defensive coordinators of my lifetime. Football outsiders has been measuring
Speaker 1: defense or I think they've gone back at least thirty
Speaker 1: something years now, and the two thousand and two Bucks
Speaker 1: were the best defense they've ever recorded. Here were their rankings,
Speaker 1: by the way in efficiency and Dvoway during that stretch. Second, fifth, second, first,
Speaker 1: that's the all time year. Yeah, third, couple more top tens,
Speaker 1: a couple more top sixes.
Speaker 2: I mean, that is a long run.
Speaker 1: And everyone that played for him just spoke of what
Speaker 1: a fatherly, great teacher he was and just what a
Speaker 1: presence and he definitely changed a game like only so
Speaker 1: many people change the game. I think he could be
Speaker 1: should be all Hall of Famer for what he did.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Like Tony Dungee kind of laughs it off right
Speaker 3: when people credit the Tampa two. He's like, know, Bud
Speaker 3: Carson and Chuck Nole kind of brought it to me,
Speaker 3: and that's where me and Monty came up with this thing.
Speaker 3: But for most of us, like we hear Tampa two
Speaker 3: and we think Monti Kiffin and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers,
Speaker 3: and so just in the way that you know, going
Speaker 3: through the seasons and communicating with media, communicating with fans,
Speaker 3: it brought a greater understanding of football. Is like, it
Speaker 3: wasn't just coaching the team. He was a part of
Speaker 3: coaching us as well. It's just a legend.
Speaker 2: And a guy.
Speaker 1: I was just appreciated from Dungee and Kiffen when Dungee
Speaker 1: left to go to Indianapolis because Kiffen stayed there. Of
Speaker 1: course with John Gruden that that wreck that number one
Speaker 1: best defense of all time was with John Gruden as
Speaker 1: the head coach in Kiffen at really running the defense.
Speaker 1: I just appreciated that they could handle one of the
Speaker 1: most personality filled locker rooms on Earth. They weren't afraid
Speaker 1: of that they embraced it like sometimes it got too much.
Speaker 1: And then the but Simeon, Rice Warren Sapp and John
Speaker 1: Lynch and just that whole cl Ronde Barber like they
Speaker 1: welcomed everyone. They did a great job coaching up. So
Speaker 1: rest in peace to Monti Kiffen and Jacoby Jones. We're
Speaker 1: gonna come back after the break and we're gonna do
Speaker 1: one of the most important things we will ever do
Speaker 1: on NFL Daily.
Speaker 2: Yes, back on NFL Daily, and we needed something regal, we.
Speaker 1: Needed something that said, your life's about to change. We're
Speaker 1: going to solve one of the greatest questions you can ask,
Speaker 1: what player would you draft, of any NFL player right
Speaker 1: now if you had to clone them and put them
Speaker 1: at every twenty two every position on the NFL field
Speaker 1: and win a.
Speaker 3: Game twenty two times, some one of them is going
Speaker 3: to have to kick, perhaps punt depending on your offensive strategy.
Speaker 3: And that's the that's the beauty of this completely preposterous
Speaker 3: hypothetical idea. Disregarding all the moral implications of cloning people.
Speaker 2: No, yeah, we don't want to think about that.
Speaker 3: But essentially, and because you know, I don't want to
Speaker 3: run a foul of any massive corporate entities. I will
Speaker 3: call this the prefaced right because again, apologies in advance,
Speaker 3: and I celebrate the entire fictional universe surrounding books, movies,
Speaker 3: and television shows and Star Wars.
Speaker 4: I think people know.
Speaker 3: Okay, so this is the large scale conflict between replicated individuals.
Speaker 2: Okay, large scale conflict between because you can.
Speaker 3: Call it a war, right, you can call them clones.
Speaker 3: Were just like the super Bowl. We're the only people
Speaker 3: that can say super Bowl and you have to watch
Speaker 3: cringe television where they call it the Big Game. I'm
Speaker 3: going to be extra safe because that's where I am.
Speaker 4: Right now. We are going to run. We are going
Speaker 4: to draft. I'll give Greg the first overall pick.
Speaker 1: Wow, you're just making that decision that I have the
Speaker 1: first pick. I like, you know you can charge. And
Speaker 1: this was Patrick's idea, and I thought, I want everyone
Speaker 1: to come to this show with ideas, and it is
Speaker 1: a perfect idea this week.
Speaker 2: And I.
Speaker 1: Okay, I am going to go first. I kind of
Speaker 1: wanted you do because I was very curious where you go.
Speaker 1: But I am going to go first. I should hide
Speaker 1: my draft boards from me over here. And again they're
Speaker 1: gonna you're gonna line them up on the offensive line.
Speaker 1: You're gonna line them up at tight end. You can
Speaker 1: you can go two tight ends.
Speaker 4: If your offense is up to you.
Speaker 1: But you're gonna have to have some line player. You're
Speaker 1: gonna have to have them at quarterback. And so my
Speaker 1: first pick in this Clone draft replicated individuals draft whatever,
Speaker 1: Josh Allen and so here here's where I started. Number One,
Speaker 1: quarterbacks are still important in the game of football, in
Speaker 1: this game of football, and so to me, the ultimate
Speaker 1: player here, and I'm not gonna pick all quarterbacks that
Speaker 1: would be boring, but the ultimate player here would be
Speaker 1: a quarterback that also has size so that they can
Speaker 1: hold up. They're gonna have to play defense, they're gonna
Speaker 1: have to play the offensive line, and they're gonna need
Speaker 1: some want to I'm gonna say, they're gonna They're gonna
Speaker 1: want to have to get dirty, and Josh Allen's gonna
Speaker 1: have to want to block for Josh Allen, and Josh
Speaker 1: Allen's gonna have to and I'm not talking about Joshua
Speaker 1: Hines Allen. Josh Josh Allen's gonna have to get off
Speaker 1: through the quarterback. And no matter what Clone team you
Speaker 1: put against him, he's going to have to cover. And
Speaker 1: I just thought of all the possible options, and I
Speaker 1: went through different quarterbacks and maybe you'll draft one, maybe
Speaker 1: you won't. He wasn't the first one I thought of,
Speaker 1: but the more and more I thought about it, I
Speaker 1: thought he would have the desire. I thought, obviously he
Speaker 1: can play the quarterback. We're gonna need to run the
Speaker 1: ball quite a bit, and I think he could handle
Speaker 1: the other positions better in aggregate than any other quarterback
Speaker 1: out there.
Speaker 2: He's my number one overall pick.
Speaker 3: When we initially did this exercise, right, it was, I
Speaker 3: believe in twenty eighteen, and from twenty eleven to twenty nineteen,
Speaker 3: Cameron Drell Newton was the obvious answer. Yes, the obvious
Speaker 3: answer to this exercise. I think all time, Cam has
Speaker 3: a very good case. Josh Allen, is it right now?
Speaker 3: So you've taken my number one over.
Speaker 4: Yes, mention.
Speaker 1: It took me a while to get there. Look, the
Speaker 1: dumbest thing I've ever said on the show. Maybe not
Speaker 1: that dumb, because I was, like, I've said a lot
Speaker 1: of dumb things, but I first couple of years I
Speaker 1: kept saying, oh, Josh Allen could be a poor man's
Speaker 1: Cam Newton if he ever got there, and so I
Speaker 1: was thinking that way. Now I have to admit, even
Speaker 1: as a Cam Newton fan, he has gotten there and
Speaker 1: excelled and exceeded whatever I expected.
Speaker 2: But very similar players. I think, the most similar to
Speaker 2: Cam of any player that's come a long since.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and hopefully Bills don't don't run him into the ground,
Speaker 3: and he's got a busted shoulder.
Speaker 2: His durability was part of it too.
Speaker 1: I thought of other potential physical quarterbacks Jaalen Hurts and
Speaker 1: Anthony Richardson and stuff, and I thought, you know, at
Speaker 1: Josh Allen, I've seen him out there year after year
Speaker 1: and he's just always that dude.
Speaker 3: Okay, And I had the potential again to have multiple quarterbacks,
Speaker 3: yes on my board, But I think for the sake
Speaker 3: of playing out this large scale conflict between replicated individuals,
Speaker 3: m I'm going to have to take a defender off
Speaker 3: the board. We see him in multiple sports.
Speaker 4: Right.
Speaker 3: The athleticism is there, it's clear, and I think our
Speaker 3: offense may suffer, but our defense is going to be
Speaker 3: very difficult, specifically for the Josh Allen teams. Right, you're
Speaker 3: Anthony Richardson teams to deal with some of my With
Speaker 3: the second pick in the large scale conflict between replicated individuals,
Speaker 3: I would like to take Miles Garrett the Cleveland Browns.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's on my board.
Speaker 1: I think if you're running and I think you're gonna
Speaker 1: have to on offense, a triple option type of offense.
Speaker 2: I mean, three Miles Garretts would be pretty crazy.
Speaker 1: If you're hiking it to Garrett and he's got Garrett
Speaker 1: next to him and then Garrett on the other side,
Speaker 1: and you gotta have a lot of faith in your coaching.
Speaker 1: But this was gonna be my pitch because Garrett is
Speaker 1: on my board. It's funny we went in the same place.
Speaker 1: I just think because he's going to be almost impossible
Speaker 1: to score on.
Speaker 2: But I do think that offense could work.
Speaker 4: The offense could work.
Speaker 3: Clearly, we're going to try to slow the game down
Speaker 3: depending on the matchup, right, because you go up against
Speaker 3: one of these ol teams, right, things get things could
Speaker 3: get very dicey. But but I do think think we're
Speaker 3: running the ball and it's it's man across the board. Yeah,
Speaker 3: we're just we're just gonna try to out athlete you
Speaker 3: If you watch the Miles Garrett basketball hollights, it's terrorizing,
Speaker 3: it's fear inducing, and so that that's why after you
Speaker 3: took my first pick, I will go with Miles Garrett.
Speaker 1: I think the two scariest positions most impressive in real
Speaker 1: life when you see them in our defense or ultimately
Speaker 1: a great edgresher and then actually a great tight end.
Speaker 1: If you see them in real life, you're like, those
Speaker 1: are the two scariest, best best athletes, and so you
Speaker 1: picked the scariest and best athlete of them all at
Speaker 1: that position. I want to watch that team. I'm sad
Speaker 1: he's he's off my board. I'm scrambling, but I'm gonna
Speaker 1: take a Sewell with myck.
Speaker 4: We spend too much time to go.
Speaker 2: We've seen him. I mean, this guy can move. You
Speaker 2: mentioned the offensive line teams.
Speaker 1: There's a couple options, but Piney Sewell is my first
Speaker 1: tackle that I would that I would choose because the
Speaker 1: hands are silky, they're soft.
Speaker 2: We've seen him move in space.
Speaker 1: Five pine Seels on the offensive line is just preposterous.
Speaker 1: We're going to be able to run the ball and
Speaker 1: I think pine Seuel could run the ball.
Speaker 3: Yeah, And it creates difficulty for my potential cornerback teams
Speaker 3: because because I did think that there were some big corners.
Speaker 3: I don't know that they can compete with the Pinae
Speaker 3: Sewel team or the Miles Garrett team. But it becomes
Speaker 3: that much more difficult considering run scheme and versatility, and
Speaker 3: it makes me think about the absurd arm length conversations.
Speaker 1: Well, if the rules are the same in the in
Speaker 1: the replicated individuals league, you know, you throw the Josh
Speaker 1: Allen team.
Speaker 2: I don't know if there's a cornerback and wide receiver team.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's still gonna be tough for Pine to get,
Speaker 1: you know, hands on those wide receivers. Now, can the
Speaker 1: can the Pinae quarterback have enough time to fight?
Speaker 2: You know it's going to be an issue.
Speaker 4: Yeah, well, is he throwing the ball? Is our second
Speaker 4: I guess he's not much.
Speaker 3: It's probably not, and so it's it's one of those
Speaker 3: things and styles may fights. But but some of these
Speaker 3: teams aren't just good, They're just not going to be
Speaker 3: able to compete. And that's why with my second pick, Okay,
Speaker 3: and I believe it's probably gonna be on your board
Speaker 3: as well, I will take George Kittle of the San
Speaker 3: Francisco forty nine ers, because again, in this league, the
Speaker 3: run game is paramount, because there are several teams that
Speaker 3: just aren't gonna be able to throw the ball. I
Speaker 3: don't know how much we've seen. There's social clips of
Speaker 3: George Kittle throwing the ball. I think he can get
Speaker 3: He could.
Speaker 4: Get it out there. To George Kittle, I research very well.
Speaker 3: But I also think it provides us with a well
Speaker 3: rounded team that may not be able to beat everybody,
Speaker 3: but they will be in games.
Speaker 2: I agree the want to will be there.
Speaker 1: I think he would embrace this challenge, you know, and
Speaker 1: him as a clone would also like his clones would
Speaker 1: embrace this challenge. And yet a lot of injuries coming
Speaker 1: off of core muscle surgery injury. Even right now, I
Speaker 1: don't know if that's part of this world. He is older.
Speaker 1: If you're giving me year two George Kittle, just some
Speaker 1: miles on him, I don't know if the speed is
Speaker 1: gonna be there for you. I actually am gonna go
Speaker 1: to one of his teammates. Then I'm gonna go Fred Warner.
Speaker 1: So I did want to have and I won a
Speaker 1: pretty heavy offense, but I wanted to have one team
Speaker 1: that just had the best chance of locking you down
Speaker 1: on defense.
Speaker 2: I don't know if that's Miles Garrett.
Speaker 1: I think if you had eleven Fred Warners, what aren't
Speaker 1: you stopping? He's gonna get to the pass rusher. We
Speaker 1: know he's gonna be good in coverage. We've seen that
Speaker 1: his end to end speed is just insane. He has
Speaker 1: sort of solved a problem that about twenty eight teams
Speaker 1: have out there of like what do we do with
Speaker 1: the entire middle of the field. If you have Fred Warner,
Speaker 1: you've solved it. Imagine having eleven Fred Warners. I mean,
Speaker 1: I don't know what he can do on offense obviously,
Speaker 1: but he's kind of in that middle range like a
Speaker 1: Josh Allen, where like he's big enough that he could
Speaker 1: protect for Fred Warner. He's fast enough he could move
Speaker 1: at the ball. And yet it's all about the defense.
Speaker 1: I think this is the number one defense in the
Speaker 1: replicated Individuals League.
Speaker 4: It's a it's a tough bet to argue with.
Speaker 3: I had a linebacker that was on my board as well,
Speaker 3: because the play recognition for Fred Warner is when he
Speaker 3: has ten people who are not Fred Warner on the field.
Speaker 3: What's it look like when Fred Warner's are just doing
Speaker 3: their job right and not covering for everybody else's?
Speaker 2: Well, what does it look like when all eleven know
Speaker 2: what you're gonna do it?
Speaker 1: But yeah, oh, Miles Garrett, Yeah, you're gonna fool me
Speaker 1: eleven Miles Garretts forget it.
Speaker 2: Fred Warner knows.
Speaker 4: But that's that's the beauty of that's the beauty of
Speaker 4: the triple option.
Speaker 3: And and just what how perhaps perhaps Miles throws an
Speaker 3: option passing there the Fred Warners do have to score
Speaker 3: as well, which which makes things difficult and leads me
Speaker 3: to and you could say I'm cheating, right, and people
Speaker 3: say that it's cheating in the fantasy world. I think
Speaker 3: this discussion would be silly to not include one Taysom
Speaker 3: Hill of the New Orleans Saints. Did I get you?
Speaker 3: Did I snipe you?
Speaker 1: I actually wish I took him earlier. I just figured
Speaker 1: there's no way this Taysom hater is gonna go with
Speaker 1: what's an obvious choice.
Speaker 4: Some some of what might have felt like he.
Speaker 2: Might have he might have gotten higher.
Speaker 3: I perhaps some latent frustration wanting Alvin Kamara to get that,
Speaker 3: to get that seventh touchdown and Tasom for some reason
Speaker 3: scoring it.
Speaker 4: Uh might have leached over a little bit.
Speaker 2: That's a great pick.
Speaker 3: But I think in terms of what we're doing, we
Speaker 3: are we are replicating individuals. Taysom Hill has done more
Speaker 3: in more spots than most people.
Speaker 4: Gotta have them on my team.
Speaker 1: I've loved the Taysom Hill journey. He's a player we
Speaker 1: argued about on around the NFL, Like the minute he
Speaker 1: came out, Chris just thought he was changing the game,
Speaker 1: that he was the most valuable player on the Saints,
Speaker 1: like in that in that playoff game against the Vikings,
Speaker 1: and he was up there, and I was like, I
Speaker 1: was maybe pushing back against some of the hype. And
Speaker 1: I gotta say, like, as the years have gone on
Speaker 1: and you've seen him do more and more, and yeah,
Speaker 1: he was never going to be a quarterback. The only
Speaker 1: thing I was mad about was Sean Payton selling us
Speaker 1: a bill of goods that this guy wasn't. But what
Speaker 1: he is is freaking incredible and a guy that is
Speaker 1: unlike anyone else in the league. And we see him
Speaker 1: as a gunner, we see him as a returnment, we
Speaker 1: see him as a tight end, he's pretty darn effective
Speaker 1: in all those why not put him on defense? I'm
Speaker 1: mad he maybe should have gotten higher. I just thought
Speaker 1: I could slide him through to the end. I'm going
Speaker 1: to take someone then, I don't want to fallow any further.
Speaker 1: It's Derrick Henry.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Look, it's going to be.
Speaker 1: A running league, but you want to at least have
Speaker 1: the option to pass. You know who leads the NFL
Speaker 1: in completion percentage with at least nine throws over the
Speaker 1: last eight years, I got I guess it's Dereck Henry.
Speaker 1: He's seven for nine, fun with stats, four touchdowns. I mean,
Speaker 1: that's that's unbelievable. He's thrown a touchdown in almost fifty
Speaker 1: percent of his passes. He's hitting seventy seven percent. And
Speaker 1: I think he's still got the juice. I think we're
Speaker 1: going to be able to run the ball, and I
Speaker 1: think I think he's got the agility. He's gotten better
Speaker 1: at receiver that he could hold up on defense. And
Speaker 1: again it's the want too.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's especially the way that the draft board has
Speaker 3: shaken out. I think some of your concerns with Derrick
Speaker 3: Henry on defense are kind of alleviated, and the offense.
Speaker 3: The potential, right, it is just a whole lot of different,
Speaker 3: especially if you coming off a win against you know,
Speaker 3: the taste against Piney Sewel and you're thinking, oh, yeah,
Speaker 3: we could stop the run. It's a whole different situation
Speaker 3: playing eleven Derrick Henry's so it's again. It's one of
Speaker 3: those situations where four years ago, oh my god, right
Speaker 3: now it's it's there. He might have come back a
Speaker 3: little bit, but not that much. I think Derrick Henry
Speaker 3: still has some mileage left. I with this pick, I
Speaker 3: don't know how much more picks we're gonna do.
Speaker 1: You're gonna have one more, one more, this, my last one,
Speaker 1: after this, after this one, Well, then I'll take it
Speaker 1: five each.
Speaker 4: Okay, I will take my offensive lineman.
Speaker 3: I will have Tristan Wurfs who ran that four to
Speaker 3: eight to Oho at three hundred and twenty six pounds.
Speaker 4: I'm taking it.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I think this league is gonna be a lot of
Speaker 1: fun again, the last picks in the large scale conflict
Speaker 1: between replicated individuals.
Speaker 2: Drafts coming right up.
Speaker 1: But I love just how off o line Twitter would
Speaker 1: really embrace this league.
Speaker 2: They would believe that they would come out on top.
Speaker 1: And I think they'd have a better chance, Like they're
Speaker 1: over under is six and a half wins, and people
Speaker 1: might be sleeping on the Pinazool and Tristan Wurf's teams.
Speaker 1: I'm wrapping up my draft. You you really have taken
Speaker 1: a lot on my board. But who are the best athletes?
Speaker 1: I think it might be cornerbacks. So I'm just gonna
Speaker 1: go with athletes here, and I'm gonna go with Jalen Ramsey.
Speaker 1: And I wanted a physical cornerback that can hold up
Speaker 1: at least enough. And obviously the weakness is going to
Speaker 1: be on the lines in going against some of these
Speaker 1: bigger teams. But in a league like this, you have
Speaker 1: eleven of the best athletes on the field. If I
Speaker 1: had to pick one position that's maybe just pure best athlete,
Speaker 1: I think it's cornerback.
Speaker 2: Plus he'd be a little crazy. I just feel like
Speaker 2: the cornerback teams would be fun. I'm going to Jalen
Speaker 2: Ramsey is my last pick.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and it makes so much sense.
Speaker 3: And I do want to address like a travesty from
Speaker 3: last season where Will Levis runs into Jalen Ramsey and
Speaker 3: goes absolutely nowhere.
Speaker 4: His I'm gonna say, his.
Speaker 3: Momentum completely came to a stump, and the conversation was like, oh,
Speaker 3: will Levis trucks Jalen Ramsey go back and watch.
Speaker 2: He didn't go anywhere he went down.
Speaker 3: He just he went straight down. And so yeah, Jalen
Speaker 3: was on the board. And I'll follow with my last
Speaker 3: pick because I do think defensive backs I need love.
Speaker 3: I was going to take Jalen Ramsey, but I'll take
Speaker 3: another Florida State defensive back in Derwin James. And because
Speaker 3: kind of gets slept on, kind of forget about Durwin
Speaker 3: uh out here in Los Angeles considered the way that
Speaker 3: the defense is gone. But you just a big, fast,
Speaker 3: versatile defensive back. It's we got to have them in
Speaker 3: the league. And I believe it's.
Speaker 2: Good for the league. I agree. Patrick Peterson maybe when
Speaker 2: he was younger, would have been a fun one.
Speaker 1: He could throw the ball a little bit. I was
Speaker 1: trying to find guys who could maybe throw it. I
Speaker 1: don't know if Jalen Ramsey can do that.
Speaker 2: I don't care.
Speaker 1: This is gonna be an important exercise that we tracked
Speaker 1: throughout the season.
Speaker 2: Yeah, come at come to us.
Speaker 1: Let us know which a large scale conflict between replicated individuals. Team.
Speaker 1: I'll took all the shorter nights that you think did better,
Speaker 1: so we'll put that maybe out on social We you
Speaker 1: have the email address NFL Daily at gmail dot com.
Speaker 2: It's been a pleasure, Patrick.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna welcome in Nick Wesseling to finish out that
Speaker 1: show a little surprise, little nice, fun, little after dinner.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna say goodbye to you, but it's a big
Speaker 1: week for Patrick here on the show.
Speaker 2: You will be back tomorrow, so looking forward to that.
Speaker 4: I'll be buck.
Speaker 1: We'll be back with Nick Westling after the break. Welcome
Speaker 1: back to NFL Daily. So excited for today's after dinner
Speaker 1: min Just that little little something special to finish the
Speaker 1: show out with my friend Nick Westling. Nick wearing the
Speaker 1: FC Cincinnati jersey.
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 1: We're taping here in the Chris Westling podcast studio. Nick,
Speaker 1: and you're obviously such a big part of around the
Speaker 1: NFL that I just wanted you to be part of
Speaker 1: this show too. And I knew, I you know, it's
Speaker 1: either you or Phil, and I love Phil, but I
Speaker 1: love having you on because you're gonna give Phil a
Speaker 1: ton of grief for the fact that you're on and
Speaker 1: he's not.
Speaker 6: Well, yeah, I'm sporting the FC Cincinnati jersey because Columbus
Speaker 6: third place. Right now, who's at the top of the table,
Speaker 6: the real hometown team, FC Cincinnati.
Speaker 2: No, nobody knows. That's not fair. MLS has a lot
Speaker 2: of fans.
Speaker 1: But you know, our focus has been on COPA, it's
Speaker 1: been on euro It's let's be real, it's been on
Speaker 1: launching the show and my family and in Wimbledon, and
Speaker 1: I don't know, it just it makes me happy to
Speaker 1: see your face, Nick, And we've talked over the last
Speaker 1: couple of weeks, and so I wanted to talk to
Speaker 1: you on air because yeah, I want you to be
Speaker 1: part of this show and and uh, I know you'll
Speaker 1: be sporting the hell out of Dan and Mark two
Speaker 1: with what they do.
Speaker 2: And it's cool to just see your face.
Speaker 1: An't that we talk a little at Bengals because like Chris,
Speaker 1: and look, if you're a new listener or you came
Speaker 1: along late in the process. Obviously Nick's brother and my
Speaker 1: great friend Chris Westling is no longer with us, made
Speaker 1: a dossier giving up his Bengals fandom more than twenty
Speaker 1: something years ago, and like Chris, you pretend you're not
Speaker 1: really a Bengals fan, but your wife is a die
Speaker 1: hard fan, and you have the second coming in Joe
Speaker 1: Burrow and he's arrived, Like, what is the Bengals feeling?
Speaker 1: And will you admit that you actually do care?
Speaker 4: Well?
Speaker 6: I mean, I do care. I would call myself a
Speaker 6: casual fan. I wouldn't insult the real fan by saying
Speaker 6: that I'm a fan because I wasn't there through all
Speaker 6: the tough times the way a lot of people in
Speaker 6: Cincinnati were. Now there's a lot to be excited about.
Speaker 6: I wondered how Chris would feel about this team. You
Speaker 6: got all the talent in the world, but they haven't
Speaker 6: been able to keep Joe Burrow upright. They get him
Speaker 6: killed every year. It's frustrating to some extent, so you
Speaker 6: wonder are they going to be able to protect They've
Speaker 6: invested a ton of money into the offensive line. You
Speaker 6: know they have the talent around him. You know he's
Speaker 6: the guy. So what are we doing here? Is this
Speaker 6: going to be the year or not?
Speaker 2: M you tell me.
Speaker 1: I mean they have invested on the offensive line, They've tried,
Speaker 1: and I don't think that was really the reason he
Speaker 1: was struggling. Last year was all offensive line play, just
Speaker 1: a couple of injuries, didn't play well, and once he
Speaker 1: was playing well, he got hurt again. But you gave
Speaker 1: a lot of money to Orlando Brown junior, You're bringing
Speaker 1: Trent Brown, you draft a Mariusmims like those are three
Speaker 1: monster tackles. The thing that worries me a little bit
Speaker 1: is something we talked about earlier in the show is like,
Speaker 1: you're doing the Bengals thing where t Higgins is playing
Speaker 1: one last year and not really many teams do that
Speaker 1: sort of thing anymore, and it does give you a
Speaker 1: little bit of old Bengals vibe. But this year also
Speaker 1: gives me a like, Okay, this crew is together for
Speaker 1: maybe one last year vibe.
Speaker 2: Get it done now.
Speaker 1: We left Sofi Stadium on the night of the Super Bowl, Nick,
Speaker 1: and you were in a great mood that night, and
Speaker 1: the feeling is like, Oh, they'll be back, and I
Speaker 1: think they will be with Joe Burrow, but this is
Speaker 1: the last time I think they'll be back with this
Speaker 1: particular group, especially Jamar and te together.
Speaker 6: Yeah, it's disappointing. You would hope they could have gotten
Speaker 6: a deal done, but you know, financially, it doesn't always
Speaker 6: work out. You got to pay Chase obviously, Burrows signed
Speaker 6: the big deal. Do you have room to sign t Higgins?
Speaker 6: It doesn't look like it. They drafted Burton in what
Speaker 6: the third round, a megatalon the guy maybe wasn't always
Speaker 6: the most popular guy in the locker room or with
Speaker 6: the coaching staff. So we'll see how that works out.
Speaker 6: You know, you wonder if they have a guy that
Speaker 6: can work underneath the two awesome receivers. Is that going
Speaker 6: to be Burton? It doesn't seem to fit any of
Speaker 6: the other guys. Trent Irwin did it a little bit,
Speaker 6: but I don't know if he's the real deal or not.
Speaker 6: You had Tyler Boyd he's gone. I don't know if
Speaker 6: the offense is gonna gonna be the problem here. Mina
Speaker 6: Kimes kind of stole my thunder a little bit last week.
Speaker 6: Beangles defense in last year it was a mess for
Speaker 6: most of the year. Early in the year, they were
Speaker 6: making plays. Uh, the defense was to keep them in
Speaker 6: it even though they were giving up a ton of yards.
Speaker 6: I think you said it. Logan Wilson and Jermaine Pratt
Speaker 6: looked a step slower last year. But they still made
Speaker 6: a lot of plays. I mean you look at their
Speaker 6: stats and you're like, wow, they made a ton of tackles,
Speaker 6: They made a ton of plays. They played almost all
Speaker 6: the all the every game, every minute, every snap of
Speaker 6: every game almost I wonder that. You know, there was
Speaker 6: a lot of reports of them both being banged up
Speaker 6: last year that could have that could have affected it.
Speaker 6: We know the defensive line is banged up last year.
Speaker 6: We'll see how all geils this year. I'm so worried
Speaker 6: about the secondary. The safety's got burned a lot. You know,
Speaker 6: can Taylor Britt looked the part, but outside of that,
Speaker 6: there wasn't much in that secondary to get too excited about.
Speaker 6: So we'll see. I mean new year. You know you
Speaker 6: always say it's hope season, right, So I think the Bengals,
Speaker 6: you know they'll be in the mix for sure. You know, tough,
Speaker 6: tough division. Who knows what's going to go on with Cleveland.
Speaker 6: You never know what Deshaun Watson in that offense. Sometimes
Speaker 6: they look like what look lights out and sometimes they
Speaker 6: look terrible. You know their defense is going to be there.
Speaker 2: They look against that's where that's where they look great.
Speaker 1: They take care of the they take care of the
Speaker 1: banks and not everyone else. Yeah, it's look, Joe Burrow
Speaker 1: changed the city and change the team, and I gotta
Speaker 1: imagine the buzz is high just because it's gonna be
Speaker 1: right now. For every Joe Burrow you're there's still the
Speaker 1: third most likely team if you look in the desert,
Speaker 1: to make the super Bowl out of the AFC feels
Speaker 1: feels right. It's it's gonna be tough, but it feels
Speaker 1: about right.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I think it's a Look, it's pretty wide open
Speaker 6: this year. You look at seven or eight teams that
Speaker 6: I think could be there at the end, i'd have
Speaker 6: to go down the lift, which we don't have time for,
Speaker 6: but we have. You know, there's gonna be seven or
Speaker 6: eight teams in the mix. I think again, the AFC
Speaker 6: deep a lot. You know, for years it was just
Speaker 6: top heavy, and then I think the Bengal showed a
Speaker 6: few years back that you know, if you just play
Speaker 6: smart football, good defense, and make big plays when you
Speaker 6: need to, you can get there. And that's what they
Speaker 6: did in the in the playoffs that year, made kicks,
Speaker 6: made enough defensive plays and just enough offensive plays that
Speaker 6: year to get there, and there were a couple of
Speaker 6: Let's be honest, there were a couple of plays away
Speaker 6: from winning that Super Bowl. So the margins are thin
Speaker 6: in the NFL.
Speaker 3: We know that.
Speaker 6: Let's see what happens.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think they I think they have a good shot.
Speaker 1: I also wanted to bring you on just you know,
Speaker 1: I appreciate you, Nick, Like we talked a few weeks
Speaker 1: back when all this was happening with around the NFL,
Speaker 1: and and I told you about, you know, my family
Speaker 1: situation and everything, and you you were a great person
Speaker 1: to talk to when it was a difficult time because
Speaker 1: in very whistling fashion, you were just like, well, I
Speaker 1: guess nothing, nothing lasts forever, you know that, Like it
Speaker 1: was great and sometimes this is life, but you got
Speaker 1: to make decisions. And I always just yeah, I appreciate you.
Speaker 1: And I know how much this podcast means to to
Speaker 1: to you and obviously to me and Mark and Dan
Speaker 1: and Chris and and just wanting to hold on to that.
Speaker 1: But you also are like that that's life and and
Speaker 1: you can't. Sometimes things are out of your control.
Speaker 4: A little bit.
Speaker 6: Yeah, you know, I think it was a special thing
Speaker 6: you pore created, you know, Jordan hit on it a
Speaker 6: little bit the other day, and you know, May made
Speaker 6: me teer up a little bit that day thinking about
Speaker 6: what Chris meant to her. And I've had other people
Speaker 6: reach out over the years on social saying some similar things. Yeah,
Speaker 6: and it's it's very sad to see it go. And
Speaker 6: I think it was Mark on some podcasts I listened
Speaker 6: to outside of the around the NFL that would talk about,
Speaker 6: you know, we know this isn't going as forever. At
Speaker 6: some point we are gonna, you know, it's gonna come
Speaker 6: to an end. Obviously, I wish you guys had a
Speaker 6: few more years running. But I'm excited to see what
Speaker 6: what what Mark and Dan have exciting. You're also a
Speaker 6: good start. You've had some good guests. I think probably
Speaker 6: number one on this list that's talking right now. Oh yeah,
Speaker 6: we'll see how. Yeah, we'll see how. And obviously I'd
Speaker 6: love to contribute to whatever you're doing in the future.
Speaker 1: I love it that the unbridled confidence is why look, hey,
Speaker 1: the reality is when it came time for Best Man,
Speaker 1: there's Nick Westling, and I think it was just because
Speaker 1: for people that don't know, not only did do you
Speaker 1: look the most like Chris, you know, you're very different
Speaker 1: from him because he used to love you. You created
Speaker 1: your own It was like you created your own alternate universe, Nick,
Speaker 1: that that you live in and it's a it's a
Speaker 1: beautiful world. And I just like to be part of
Speaker 1: this alternate universe. I know, uh, your brothers probably have
Speaker 1: mixed emotions about being part of it, even even your
Speaker 1: wife maybe something, but I know Keisha loves it and
Speaker 1: it is really cool. You guys went to the Reds
Speaker 1: game recently with Keisha and Lincoln in all six remaining brothers.
Speaker 1: So that, man, when I saw that picture reminded me
Speaker 1: of the super Bowl picture. Of course, your brother Mikey
Speaker 1: wasn't there. Eddie wasn't at the super Bowl. I don't
Speaker 1: believe either, and so is all the brothers.
Speaker 6: And Eddie made it.
Speaker 1: Oh he did, That's right, Yeah, he made it there
Speaker 1: and it was all the brothers and Lincoln and Keisha
Speaker 1: and so man, I just know at a Reds game,
Speaker 1: man that I know you must have felt Chris real
Speaker 1: strong that day. And it's awesome that that she's she's
Speaker 1: coming to visit you and that you guys come together
Speaker 1: like that.
Speaker 6: Absolutely. Yeah, She's got a home any anytime she wants
Speaker 6: right here in Cincinnati. But she's doing great. She's killing
Speaker 6: it with her with her job and what she's doing
Speaker 6: with some of the media and editing. So I'm happy
Speaker 6: for her. I'm you know, obviously it was great to
Speaker 6: see her and Lincoln. Lincoln's getting big, big, fast, and
Speaker 6: he's a little athlete. I can't wait till you're talking
Speaker 6: about him post game on Sundays, you know, fifteen or
Speaker 6: twenty years from now, that'll be pretty awesome. More may
Speaker 6: or maybe he'll be uh wearing the badge here right here,
Speaker 6: Okayni one day. He's a little soccer player, so he's
Speaker 6: let's let's hope he's he can keep keep keep that
Speaker 6: little athlete in him, and we'll see what happens down
Speaker 6: the road.
Speaker 1: Built like a soccer player like you, like like like
Speaker 1: like Wes who who was great and uh yeah, when
Speaker 1: I saw him doing some some baseball drills, that just
Speaker 1: that that hard is beautiful. It's hard hard to put
Speaker 1: into one word all those feelings because it's bittersweet, but
Speaker 1: it's uh, it's amazing as well. Not bittersweet though, to
Speaker 1: talk to you, I I love the unbridled confidence, not
Speaker 1: just in your soccer team, and your great looks, but
Speaker 1: also in your ability as an analyst. So we're gonna
Speaker 1: try to tap into that more throughout the course of
Speaker 1: the season, Nick, but it was great to have you
Speaker 1: on and uh yeah, that's it for this show. I
Speaker 1: want to thank Patrick Claybond for helping me out drafting
Speaker 1: all the uh the clones, the large scale conflict between
Speaker 1: replicated individuals, and thank you again.
Speaker 2: Nick.
Speaker 6: Absolutely heed the call, Greg.
Speaker 2: Heed the call for sure to Wednesday. See you next time.
Speaker 2: M